By Melody Gross 
Slovenian Tadej Pojacar (UAE) is one of the big stars in the world squad, current leader of the Tour de France, and last year’s winner, but said this Monday, the Tour’s rest day, that he still intends to do so. He proves to the world his quality, in order to prove that the victory in 2020 was not a “coincidence” – he grabbed the yellow card from his compatriot Primoz Roglic on the eve of the end of the last edition, in an individual experience.
“One of my biggest motivations is to show that it wasn’t an accident based on a one-time experience. This year, I’m excited to prove myself and prove to the world what I can do,” said, who is currently 02.01 minutes ahead of Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citröen) and 05.18 On Colombian Rigoberto Uran (EF Education -Nippo), Roglic is not in competition and has, in the last two stages, put in a superb showing of strength.
As for some doubts about his performance, which were raised for example by the newspaper L’Equipe, the Slovenian recalled the various anti-doping tests he had undergone, both before and during the test. We are subject to various controls to silence suspects. For example, I was checked three times on a Sunday – twice before departure and once after arriving in Tignes.